‘About half a mile,’ said Graves. ‘When it became clear that the driver of the blue Transit was employing counter-surveillance techniques, Wendy had the cars pull back and the two bikes are keeping as far away as they can, one ahead and one behind the target vehicle. Oh, and just so you know, your boss is on the case. He’s using Mike One.’

Shepherd pulled out his phone to call Willoughby-Brown. ‘I’m with the SFOs now,’ he said. ‘From the sound of it, the tangoes are definitely up to something.’

‘Wendy’s the best. They won’t spot her people,’ said Willoughby-Brown.

‘It looks as if they’re on the home run now,’ said Shepherd. ‘You might want to think about possible targets in the area.’

‘I’m on it. I’ve got a map in front of me. I’ve already been on to the Diplomatic Protection Group and I’ve spoken to the PM’s office. Everyone’s on full alert.’

‘And the sniper is probably going to be shooting from a vantage point, almost certainly high up.’

‘Understood.’

‘So what’s our game plan?’

‘We need the sniper. That’s our main concern. There’s no point in pulling in the weapon or the delivery boys. If the sniper gets hold of another weapon, we’re back to square one. The sniper’s the prize.’

‘That is the building ahead of us,’ said Naeem. He pointed at three tower blocks immediately ahead. ‘The middle one.’ He pointed at the glove compartment. ‘There’s a keycard in there. In an envelope.’

Assadi opened the glove compartment and found an envelope with a number on it: 1214. He nodded. ‘Thank you, brother.’

‘I’ll drop you outside.’

Assadi climbed into the back of the van where al-Kawthari was sitting on an upturned crate, the gun case at his feet. ‘We’re here,’ he said.

They turned to the right and stopped. Al-Kawthari opened the door and got out. Assadi passed the case to him, then climbed out and slammed the door. Naeem drove off immediately.

Shepherd put his finger to his earpiece as it crackled. ‘Bravo One, they’re out of the van, which is heading back west. Two men are coming towards a tower block.’

‘Can you get off the bike and follow on foot, Bravo One?’ asked Aspden.

‘I’ll try, but I don’t think I’ll get there in time,’ said the man.

Shepherd tapped Leigh’s shoulder. ‘Let’s go there – we’re not doing any good here.’ The driver stamped on the accelerator.

‘Bravo One, they’re going inside. They had a key card. I’ve lost them. The van is still heading west.’

‘Bravo Two, pick up the van,’ said Aspden. ‘Charlie One, go with him. Charlie Two, you can RV with Bravo One. Mike One will be running things from there.’

‘Mike One, will be there in two minutes.’ Willoughby-Brown sounded tense.

There was a knock and Jafari picked up his gun. He tiptoed to the door and squinted through the viewer. ‘It’s them,’ he said, unlocking the door and pulling it open. Mohammed al-Hussain was sitting at the table. He had closed the window but was staring down at the stadium.